Explorer.Exe-Unable to locate component

After turning my computer on it says "This application has failed to start because UxTheme.dll was not found. Re-installing the application may fix this problem. How do I do that? I am computer illiterate.

Melli-Carlos why are u posting New Questions,,,,, if u want to ask anything,,,, plzz post in ur Original question, means here !!!!!!
posting NEW questions on same problem is against the rules of EE.... plzz co-operate with us so that we can help u better :)

Im pasting ur new problem here.... so u can DELETE the new question u just posted... otherwise a moderator will come and delete it !!!!

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I received step by step instructions to help try to fix this problem but still I can't figure it out, I am computer illiterate.

From 6. on I am having trouble understanding.
6. "cd .." until root (C:\)
What does that mean?
7. type "C:\dir /s uxtheme .dll
and so on. I'm lost can you help? My window is very small to, how do I get it back to my original size?
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It appears you posted a new question so Im not sure which you want me to reply to so I have replied to both. I belive you should post further comments to this and not the new one you created.

Ok lets go into more detail. Steps 1 and 2 are self explainatory I believe.
Once you have clicked past the error, hist Conrol-Alt-Delete keys. Then choose Task Manager.This will bring up the task manager. One of the buttons on the task manager is New Task. Click this. In the open field type in cmd and hit enter.

This will bring up a dos prompt.
At the dos prompt type c:..
This will put you at the root of the hard drive.
no type dir /s uxtheme.dll and hit Enter.
This will search your hard drive for the file uxtheme.
When it finds the file not where it says it is at.
now type this command.
copy <Path to the file you found with the above step>\uxtheme.dll c:\windows\system32

Possibly an easier way would be to run the System File Checker, which will replace any corrupt or missing system files.
I think it will restore the file though you may have to register it after the Checker is finished. Post if it doesn't work and I'll
give you the code to register it. To run the System File Checker:

Click Start, click Run, and in the window that comes up type SFC /SCANNOW then hit the Enter key.
Note:there is 1 space between the SFC and the /SCANNOW

Okay, I have just have a world of problems. First I think I'm having so much trouble trying to
get around on my computer because my window is so small and I don't know how to get it back
to its original size. It doesn't hold the same picture to it or have the same color to it either.
Do you know how to fix the screen?

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Melli-CarlosAuthor Commented: 2004-08-15

I ran SFC SCANNOW and after finishing the scan all it did was go back to my destorted desktop
background. I restarted the computer and still nothing what do I do?

then why didn't u try to copy the Uxtheme.dll file to ur C:\Windows\System32 folder as gdewrell advised to u....??
if u cannot find this file on ur system, then u can copy this file from another XP computer(copy from XP pro if u are using XP PRO and copy from XP HOME if u are running XP HOME)...... paste it on a floppy !!!!!

then start ur system and insert the floppy when u get the error..... open command prompt from Task Manager, and copy the Uxtheme.dll file from floppy to ur C:\Windows\System32 folder, using ommand which gdewrell told u, i.e. copy <Path to the file you found with the above step>\uxtheme.dll c:\windows\system32
when u done copying take out the floppy, and restart the system,,,,, now u shudn't get this error.... and we can work on other problems now(if u are having them)

ask anything if u find anything difficult :)

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Melli-CarlosAuthor Commented: 2004-08-15

I'm sorry I forgot to mention that this is a laptop and it doesn't have a floppy drive, can I burn it to a cd and do it that way?
Could it be that all your suggestions haven't worked because this isnt' a home system, is there a
difference between home systems and laptops? If so, I apologize for not mentioning it earlier.
I have a Compaq Presario 2100 with XP Home Edition SP1.

the solution of ur problem is......... u have to copy a dll file called Uxtheme.dll to ur C:\Windows\System32 folder
u can get this dll file from another XP Home System,,,, if u dont have a floppy then burn this small file on a CD and then copy it to ur system..... !!!!

No difference for this situation Melli. So where exactly are we. Did you find the file on the hard drive?
If not yes you can burn this file to the cd then insert the cd in the drive and from the dos prompt type this:

copy <CD Drive Letter>\uxtheme.dll c:\windows\system32
If it prompts you to overwrith say yes.

remove the CD and reboot the PC.

God Bless.

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Melli-CarlosAuthor Commented: 2004-08-15

regsvr32.exe c:\windows\system32\uxtheme.dll
It says The specified module could not be found.

If you typed that into the box just as it appeared in the post and you got that message then you still
don't have a uxtheme.dll file in your system32 directory. That is the very first and absolutely necessary
step, to get that uxtheme.dll file into the system32 directory. I thought sfc would replace it but I guess
it didn't for some reason.

Try this. Click Start, Search, All Files and Folders
type uxtheme.dll into the window that says All or Part of the Filename and then hit Enter

Every place the file exists should show up you can then copy one of the by right clicking on the file
and click copy and then going to the system32 folder and right clicking on a blank area of the folder
and clicking paste

By the way, when you say the window is so small, do you see a small window with the color black as the background behind the window?

If so, maybe your monitor needs adjustment. Use the buttons on your monitor to resize the windows and make changes.

One more thing, do a quick scan of your C:/Windows folder and subfolders for viruses.

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Melli-CarlosAuthor Commented: 2004-08-15

I'm sorry I must be stupid because I just put in a burned copy of the uxtheme.dll into my computer and
your mentioned from the dos prompt type this: copy <CD Drive Letter>\uxtheme.dll c:\windows\system32
If it prompts you to overwrith say yes. what is or how do I get to the dos prompt?

This might be easier.
Determine which letter your CDROM drive is using, maybe D: or E: or F:
If you don't know, click on My Computer and find the icon with the little CD image on it. There may
be more than one.
Put your XP install disk into the CDROM drive and if the setup screen comes up automatically, click
the Exit button to make it go away.

In the example below, I used R as the drive letter for the CDROM but YOU should use YOUR drive
letter that you found in My Computer, not R, (unless your cdrom drive letter just happens to be R)

6. Click the "Expand" button, if info was entered correctly the little box will disappear

7. Click "OK" on the main MSCONFIG window and you will be asked if you want to restart, choose yes

8. After reboot, click start, search, and type uxtheme.dll into the search window as I outlined previously
in another post and see if the file was transferred into your system32 folder

Reboot. That's it

All the best

Alex

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Melli-CarlosAuthor Commented: 2004-08-15

Try this. Click Start, Search, All Files and Folders
type uxtheme.dll into the window that says All or Part of the Filename and then hit Enter
I don't know how to try this step because I don't have a start button to click. I don't know another way
to try this.

tim.... a file called uxtheme.dll is missing...... and when system is starting explorer.exe cannot start coz of this missing file !!!!
we just need to put this file in C:\Windows\System32 folder thru Task Manager>New Task>cmd.exe
and once we get this file on system, we can get the explorer to Start normally and that's all :)

Melli has already burned that uxtheme.dll file on a CD from another XP HOME system,,,, and now he is trying to copy this file thru command prompt..... his latest problem is "Okay I tried the cmd.exe thing and typed copy <CD Drive Letter>\uxtheme.dll c:\windows\system32 it says cannot find the file specified."

NO he is in Normal mode without any Start button or Dekstop items... as Explorer.exe is not running.....

we are trying to launch Task manager>New Task>CMD.exe and then inserting the burned cd. and then copying the file from CD to C:\Windows\System32 in Command promt,,,,, but the error he is getting is the file is not found !!!!!

I did the msconfig steps and it says 'restore from' (meaning D: drive) file does not exist. Could it possibly
be not burned right? But if so I don't understand because it has shown me what is all on the cd.
I dont' know, can't figure anything out.

If you are using the msconfig example that I posted above, then your XP installation cd needs to be in the cdrom drive instead
of the cd that you burned. The msconfig example I posted above won't work with the cd you burned, it will only work with an
xp install cd

tosh9iii - the download you referenced is not the XP uxtheme.dll - it is a custom hack
that allows you to run 3rd party themes on XP without using the XP mode if I remember correctly
from my gui tweaking days. It probably won't hurt anything, it may actually work better, but
it's not the same as the MS uxtheme.dll system file.